


oleander

by aetherpunk



Series: mcyt advent calender [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Boys in Skirts, Christmas Shopping, Dancing and Singing, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot are twins, Gender Non-Comforming, Internalized Homophobia, Internalized Misogyny, Kinda, Shopping, Shopping Malls, Song Lyrics, Toxic Masculinity, Writing Prompt, but he learns!!!, hes gonna have some toxic moments, mcytadvent, tommy grew up on reddit yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27833374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherpunk/pseuds/aetherpunk
Summary: i'm like a child in a styi play with fire- mother mother, oleander============tommy's quick to judge tubbo's fashion sense. but maybe it's something internalized that makes him feel so strange.============day 1; christmas market
Relationships: Dave | Technoblade & TommyInnit, Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, No Romantic Relationship(s), Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: mcyt advent calender [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037358
Comments: 13
Kudos: 231
Collections: MCYT Advent Calendar Prompts 2020





	oleander

**Author's Note:**

> a bit of a trigger warning!
> 
> some of the things that tommy thinks is a bit... rude? and includes a bit of toxic masculinity. there's also a recollection of homophobic language, but nothing explicitly stated!  
> i promise he gets well by the end of it!!!
> 
> if a content creator is uncomfortable with the content, i will delete it !

_There was a gentle wrapping upon Tommy’s door, a simple tune that sounded a bit like the chorus of ‘Hallelujah’. He sighed, removing his headset and calling out a “One second!” before swinging the door open._

_He wasn’t too sure what he was looking at._

_ “Hey Tommy, uh. Philza wanted me to come and get you. Dinner’s ready,” _ _Tubbo smiled, hands in their pockets._

_Tommy blinked, scanning over Tubbo slowly, raising a concerned eyebrow._ _ “Uh-huh, sure, whatever, Tubbo?” _ _He started slowly, trying to find words that wouldn’t come out as offensive._ _ “Why are you wearing a dress?” _

_Tubbo looked down at himself, seemingly forgetting that they even had it on in the first place. He smiled, spinning before catching himself and letting the fabric fly freely._

_ “It’s just comfortable! And I think it looks nice,” _ _they add, star-filled eyes gleaming at Tommy._ _ “What, do you not like it?” _

_Tommy quickly came back down from his confusion, shaking his head quickly._ _“It- It- It’s not that I don’t_ like _it, it’s just. It’s just. It’s not_ weird, _it’s just… Different?” He gave a shaky laugh. “I dunno. I didn’t expect it, that’s all.”_

_Tubbo nodded in understanding._ _ “That makes sense. It doesn’t, like, make you uncomfortable, right?” _

_“What? No.”_ _Tommy waved a dismissive hand at the other._ _“I’m not gonna dictate what you wear. That’s just not cool.” He stopped for a moment, thinking. “Where’d you even get that?”_

_ “Eret and Niki took me shopping the other week at the shopping centre!” _ _Tommy found himself smiling gently at how bright Tubbo’s smile was, and how excited they seemed to be._

_They were pulled from their conversation suddenly, as Philza called up the stairs to them. They decided to race to the kitchen, and whoever fell down the stairs first owed the other five dollars._

\---------

Tommy never did give Tubbo those five dollars. It didn’t really matter, not really. That was at least two weeks ago. Now, there were more important things at hand. Like how the cold bit at the tip of his nose, and how his fingers felt numb. He had never handled the cold well, something that he assumed ran in the family with how Wilbur shivered and how Techno’s face turned tomato red. 

Tommy wondered about Tubbo’s family, wondering how he was able to keep such prep in his step, humming to a song in his head that no one else knew. 

Techno groaned suddenly, stopping in his tracks and holding his head in his hands. The rest of the family stopped a few steps ahead, turning to him with confusion on their faces. 

“Techno?” Philza asks somewhat softly, using the time to adjust his hair and tuck it into his winter cap.

"Why’d we stop?” Tubbo asks, taking a few steps towards Techno, reaching out a concerned hand.

Techno batted Tubbo’s hand away, shushing him. He pointed upwards, up at the speakers.

They all sat in silence, listening carefully.

_… I don’t care about the presents … Underneath the Christmas tree ..._

Uh oh.

Tubbo cackled excitedly, joining in on the next verse, singing horribly out of tune. Tommy felt his face flushing quickly from the embarrassment of his sibling’s dramatic theatrics, forcing himself to look away as Tubbo reached to the sky and pulled their hand back down to their chest. 

Tubbo turned his attention to the rest of the family, concern for Techno quickly forgotten. He looked at Wilbur and Philza with bright blue eyes, singing and ignoring his voice cracking awkwardly. 

_“Make my wish come true…..!”_

Tommy realized it was a request as Wilbur and Philza exchanged glances, before Philza shrugged and started singing along. It wasn’t even a second before Wilbur joined in, and Tommy could faintly hear Techno begrudgingly humming along. 

_“All I want for Christmas is….”_

The tall blond wished he could just drink an invisibility potion like in the video games and just disappear. Tommy pulled his hood over his head, trying to act like he didn’t know the group of loud, awful singing nerds. 

_“Y_ _o_ _u_ _~!”_

He yelps as Tubbo grabs his hands, pulling him and spinning as Mariah Carey hits the high note. The high velocity makes his hood fall off of his head, exposing his face to the cold breeze and the harsh stares of passerby’s. Tommy stumbles as they slow, mind swaying and legs bumbling with dizziness. He places a hand against Tubbo’s shoulder to still himself, closing his eyes tight as his brain tries to catch up with his body.

When Tommy finally grounds himself, his attention snaps to where his hand gripped Tubbo’s shoulder. Without thinking, he rubbed the fabric of their sweater gently, eyebrows furrowing.

“Why the fuck is it so soft?” Tommy didn’t even mean to ask the question out loud, but once it had tumbled from his lips, there really was no reason to go back.

Tubbo looked at him and smiled, bringing his hand to Tommy’s free one, offering the sleeve. “I know, right? It’s incredibly comfortable! You can feel the inside of the sleeve if you’d like. It’s almost softer than the outside.”

Tommy swiped his gaze over his friend quickly before retracting with a shake of his head. It felt _weird_ touching Tubbo while they wore a skirt. Not weird in the sense that he had a _crush,_ Tommy had previously had So Many Girlfriends and he knows what _that_ feels like. This was definitely not that. It was an… Uncertainty? He didn’t want to categorize it as disgust, either, because it’s _Tubbo._ Unsettled wasn’t the proper word, either. 

He knew he had been staring for a while, so he covered his thoughts with a question. “How are you not freezing in that thing?”

The rest of the family started walking, so Tubbo explained how his leggings were fleece-lined and how his boots had fur on the inside while they walked. Tommy didn’t really pay much attention to it, paying more mind to the stores they walked past and taking mental notes of every little stand that had plastic guns. He didn’t think that asking Philza about it now was a good idea, considering that they had come here to buy Christmas gifts and not toys for Tommy to shoot Wilbur with.

Philza led the rest of the family to a larger store in the mall- one of the two-story name-brand stores. Tommy didn’t pay much attention to the name of the place, strolling in with his hands in his pockets. Philza looked around the somewhat empty store and nodded.

“Guys? We meet at the elevators in an hour. If you see something you like, grab it. And please… Try not to go over 250, each, okay? I’ve got money, but I’m not made of it.” Philza nods and the five split in their own directions, wandering down aisles and looking for something that catches their eye.

Tommy found himself wandering mindlessly, not too enthused by any of the options that were being presented to him. He was a man of simple taste, and he didn’t find much interest in the graphic t-shirt sections. They just weren’t his thing- he felt embarrassed walking around in public with one of his dorky interests displayed loudly on his chest.

The blond muttered a curse as he stumbled into a rack, too preoccupied with his own thoughts to realize that he was about to knock into something. He steadied the swaying shelf quickly, trying to make sure nothing fell out or over, praying that he didn’t draw too much attention to himself. When no one around said anything, Tommy considered himself in the clear.

He looked around the area and realized he had wandered to the shoe section of the shop, and subconsciously glanced down at his converse. Worn in and comfortable, he decided, even though they were stained with mud and the red colour wasn’t nearly as vibrant as when he had first bought them. Tommy liked the shoes he had! So he turned around and started to walk to a different aisle before something caught his eye. 

He turned, eyes widening at the pair of boots that sat displayed before him. Tommy looked around, making sure no one (especially not one of his family members) was around, before picking up one of the boots. It was heavier than he would have expected, but nothing that the big man couldn’t handle. He rubbed the white shiny faux leather, wondering how many inches tall the platforms were. Tommy considered the thought of being the same height as Wilbur, and quietly giggles at the thought. He didn’t know how to walk in heels though, and he definitely wasn’t going to ask. 

“Find something ya like?” 

The voice that came from behind Tommy startled him as he moved to put the shoe back on display, and the tall blond quickly spun around and threw it at the person who invaded his mind-space-privacy.

He watched as Technoblade ducked out of the way, feeling his defensive walls raise high as Tommy realized that Techno had definitely seen him looking at the boots. Boots from the _women’s_ section, too. Of course.

“No,” Tommy said quickly, putting his hands behind his back and moving in front of the display to hide it from Techno. The older laughed softly, bending down and picking up the thrown boot.

He offered it to Tommy without an expression on his face. “Here.”

“I don’t want those!” 

Techno blinked. “I didn’t say you did..?”

_Shit._

“Tommy,” Techno started, adjusting his glasses, “I dunno why you’re makin’ such a big deal out of it. They’re shoes, man. If you like ‘em, and they fit, get ‘em.”

“Because!” Tommy shouts, and then realizes he’s in a store. “Because these are for _girls._ Do I look like a girl to you, Techno?”

Techno tightened the ponytail his hair was in. “You’re kinda actin’ like one, man.”

“Shut up!” Tommy growled, crossing his arms.

“I mean, it really isn’t that deep, man. It’s just clothes. I don’t know Eret well, but I know that some pictures of him in a dress and platforms went trending a few months ago. Tubbo wears skirts and dresses all the time.”

“Eret’s _different._ ” Tommy sneers, not realizing the acidity in his tone.

“What? What about him is different?” Techno furrowed his brows, not liking where this conversation was going. “Tubbo’s just a kid, like you. He can wear what he wants, when they want. Why do clothes have to be, like… girl and guy specific?”

Tommy thought for a moment, remembering all the times he saw online where some guys would post pictures of themselves in feminine clothing, and all of the comments would be calling them slurs that Tommy couldn’t say. But he also thought of the more recent times, where Eret and Fundy and other popular friends of his posted pictures in skirts and dresses, and they got loads of positive attention for it. 

He frowned, not really knowing what to say. “Look, I’m sorry. I just… It’s _weird._ ”

“No, man, it isn’t.” Techno sighs. “Look. Wearing more… ‘traditionally feminine’ clothing isn’t that bad. I’ve got some pictures of me and Wil from back in university, where I wore a dress. It’s that one saying, uh, _Don’t knock it ‘till you try it_?”

The taller looked back at the display of boots, taking the one from Techno and putting it back on display. He finds pair that’s in his size and, begrudgingly, tries them on. 

Heels are _weird._ But he likes the extra height above Techno, for sure, even though he was already taller. The pair he grabbed was pretty comfortable, too. He took a few steps forward, trying to get used to it, before easily sliding into the rhythm of it all. Smaller steps, apparently, and you’re less likely to fall. It’s definitely new, and a little scary, but Tommy enjoys the small thrill.

Techno cocks his head to the side. “So… whatcha think?”

With a deep breath, Tommy nods. “I think I’ll get ‘em.”

Tommy takes the shoes back off and boxes them back up, heading back to the elevator. Techno peels off eventually, leaving Tommy back alone with his thoughts. 

He ended up making one more stop before meeting with the others. They casually discussed what they picked out, Tommy glancing at Techno every few seconds to make sure that the pink-haired man wouldn’t say anything about his earlier behaviour. He doesn’t, which allows Tommy to exhale a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

As the five went to the checkout, and they all placed their items down on the counter, Tommy found himself filled with a surge of confidence that he normally wouldn’t have. After everyone had already set down their things, Tommy followed. He placed down the box with the white platforms, and then a long red pleated skirt on top of it.

**Author's Note:**

> if you see me posting this a day late... no you don't <3
> 
> comments keep me going!! please!! fuel my ego!!!


End file.
